The humanitarian crisis in Somalia remains one of the largest in the world, despite modest improvements in food security. An estimated 870,000 people need immediate life-saving assistance. A further 2.3 million people are on the verge of food insecurity and need support to prevent them from falling back into emergency. One out of seven children under the age of five, or 206,000 children, is estimated to be acutely malnourished. Global acute malnutrition rates remain unacceptably high with 10.1 and 14.4 per cent among urban and rural communities respectively, and as high as 17.3 per cent among the 1.1 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Recent developments are also likely to aggravate the already dire humanitarian situation. Early warnings indicate that flooding, late onset of rains and a devastating tropical storm in 2013 may lead to poor harvests in 2014. There is a need for more donor attention and early action to prevent the re-occurrence of the 2010 situation where complacency led to a late response to the devastating 2011 famine. Sustained and higher level of funding is required to adequately respond to the humanitarian crisis in Somalia.